Rational: This lesson
focuses on
something that is crucial for children to master in the beginning of
their
reading instruction: letter recognition.Through the various activities, the students will be able to
recognize
the letter and phoneme "b" and /b/ both in written and spoken
language.They also will be able to
write upper case and lower case "B's."

1. Begin
lesson by telling students that our
written language is made up lots of different letters, and we've got to
figure
out what each one stands for. Today we're
going to learn a letter that is going to help us break the "secret
code"
of our language: b, or the phoneme, /b/.Tell students that we are going to be able to recognize the
mouth moves
for /b/, and soon we will be able to
see b in all kinds of words!

2. I want
everyone to put their hand on their
chest and listen very, very quietly.Do
you hear your heart beating: b-b-b-b-b‰¥ÏThat's the sound b makes!What do you feel
your mouth doing when you make that sound?That right, our lips start out pressed together, and we let out
a puff
of air.One word we hear the letter b in is "bite."Now, stretch
out the heartbeat b in "bite."B-b-b-b-bite.Good job!

3. Now we are
going to try our tongue twister
that's written on this chart.I'll say
it once, and then you can say it back to me two times.Ready? It says "Beth broke her best
buddy's baby doll."Okay, now we're
going to say it again, but this time we're going to stretch out that
heartbeat "b"
sound.Bbbbeth bbbbroke her bbbbest
bbbbuddy's bbbbaby doll.Great job!Now let's see if we can break off the /b/ at the beginning of each word that
begins with /b/./B/eth
/b/roke her /b/est /b/uddy's
/b/aby doll.

4. Okay, now
it's time to write it!I think you're
ready!Please take out your pencils and
primary
paper.First I'll show you how we write
the letter b.Model
on board and talk through the steps.For
the upper case B, we
start up at the rooftop and go all the way
down to the sidewalk, then around for his big chest and around again
for his
big tummy.Next, for lower case b, we start up at the
rooftop again, and go all
the way down to the sidewalk and b-b-bounce up and around.Once I see that you have figured out how to
write these letters, I'll give you a sticker on your paper.Then, I want to you write Bb
across the line on your paper six
more times.

5. Can you
hear /b/ in "bumblebee?" Now,
I am going to call out some words to you,
and if you think you hear a /b/ in them, I want you to flap your
bumblebee wings
really fast. Let's practice: I'm going to say the words "cab" and
"tag,"
and I want you to flap your wings when I say which one you think has b in it.Okay, cab or tag?Right, I heard
that heartbeat /b/ in cab, but
not in tag. Let's try some more! Bat or
map?Ball or sad?Call
or tab?

6. Read The
Honeybee and the Robber by
Eric Carle."This is a really great
story about a honeybee and a robber!Do
you think the robber is going to be able to rob the honeybee?I hope not!Let's read to find out!"After reading, discuss the story's events with the class.Read the story again, and have the students
flap their wings when they hear a word with b.
Have students write a message
about
where they would fly if they could fly like a bumblebee.

7. To assess
the students' learning, give them
the picture page and circle the pictures that begin with b.Then have them
write an upper case and lower
case b beside each picture.